Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

The Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna openend to the public in 1891. Hans Makart (1840–84) had originally been commissioned to execute the painting for the ceiling as well as fanlight, spandrel, and intercolumnar areas as part of the interior decorations in the main staircase of the new built museum. The contract was signed in February 1881; in the same year an imperial delegation was able to view the artist’s initial sketches. Shortly before his death, Makart had completed the fanlight paintings depicting “classical heroes of painting” and their “favourite materials”. For this painting Makart decided in favour of a restrained treatment: two muscular nudes hold a portrait medallion. The depiction echoes a type of Rembrandt’s self-portraits prominently represented in the imperial collections in the form of the Large Self-Portrait (1652; KHM, Inv. No. 411). For further Information on the building see: Cäcilia Bischoff, The Kunsthistorisches Museum. History, Architecture, Decoration, Vienna 2010